Black's Law Dictionary

See LAND.

In old records. A miner.

See Inch.

The quantity of water which will escape from a ditch or reservoir through an orifice in its side one inch square, the center of the orifice being six inches below the constant leve

The smallest corporal punishment is greater than any pecuniary one. 2 Inst. 220.

Things which have had a certain interpretation [whose interpretation has been settled, as by common opinion] are not to be altered. Co.. Litt 365; Wing. Max. p. 748, max. 202.

An old form of muniment, (g. v.) Blount.

The smallest is next to nothing.

The process or business of extracting from the earth the precious or valuable metais, either in their native state or in their ores. In re Rollins Gold Min. Co.. (D. C.) 102 Fed. 9

A parcel of land, containing precious metal in its soil or rock, and appropriated by an individual, according to established rules, by the process of "location." St. Louis Smelting

This designation was formerly applied in England to the associations formed in London in 1825 for working mines in Mexico and South America; but at present it comprises, both in En

A section of country usually designated by name and described or understood as being confined within certain natural boundaries, in which the precious metals (or their ores) are fo

See Mining.

The act of appropriating and claiming, according to certain established rules and local customs, a parcel of land of defined area, upon or in which one or more of the precious meta

See Mining.

In public law. One of the highest functionaries in the organization of civli government, standing next to the sovereign or executive head, acting as his immediate auxiliary, and be

That which is done under the authority of a superior; opposed to judicial; that which involves obedience to instructions, but demands no special discretion, judgment or skill. —Min

A ministerial act may be defined to be one which a person performs in a given state of facts, in a prescribed manner, in obedience to the mandate of legal authority, without regard

A ministerial duty, the performance of which may in proper cases be required of a public officer by judicial proceedings, is one in respect to which nothing is left to discretion;

One whose duties are purely ministerial, as distinguished from executive, legislative, or judicial functions, requiring obedience to the mandates of superiors and not involving the

See Power.

A phrase used la English conveyancing to denote powers given for the good, not of the donee himself exclusively, or of the donee himself necessarily at all, but for the good of sev

See TRUST.

(Also called "instrumental trusts.") Those which demand no further exercise of reason or understanding than every intelligent agent must necessarily employ; as to convey an estate.

The party cross-examining a witness was so called, under the old system of the ecolesiastical courts.

Lat In old English law. Ministers of the king, applied to the judges of the realm, and to all those who hold ministeriui offices in the government 2 Inst. 208.

Office; service. Those members of the government who are In the cabinet.

He does not pay who pays too late. Dig. 50, 16, 12, 1.

An infant or person who Is under the age of legal competence. A term derived from the civil law, which described a person under a certain age as less than se many years. Minor vigm

2 Inst. 291. A minor bsfore majority cannot act in a case of property, nor even agree; it should be deferred until majority; but the writ does not fail.

In English law. The lesser prerogatives of the crown, including the rights of the revenue. 1 Bl. Comm. 241.

In the law of evidence. A relative, collateral, or subordinate fact; a circumstance. Wills, Circ. Ev. 27 ; Burrill, Circ. Ev. p. 121, note, 582.

The state or condition of a minor; infancy. The smaller number of votes of a deliberative assembly; opposed to majority, (which see.)

A minor cannot make oath. Co. Litt. 172b. An infant cannot be sworn on a jury. Litt 289.

A minor ought not to be guardian to a minor, for he who knows not how to govern himself is presumed to be unfit to govern others. Fleta, 11b. 1, c. 10; Co. Litt. 88b.

3 Bulst. 143. A minor is not bound to reply during his minority, except as a matter of favor in a cause of dower.

Co. Litt. 128. A minor who is under twelve years of age cannot be outlawed, nor placed without the law, because before such age he is not under any law, nor in a decennary.

A person under seventeen years is not admitted to be an executor. 6 Coke, 67. A rule of eccleslastical law.

Lat Minority or infancy. Gro. Car. 516. Literally, lesser age.

The place designated by law where bullion is coined into money under authority of the government. Also a place of privilege in Southwark, near the king's prison, where persons form

The charge or commission taken by the mint as a consideration for coining into money the bullion which is brought to it for that purpose; the same as "seigniorage." Also that which

The masters and workers of the English mint, in the indentures made with them, agree "to make a privy mark in the money they make, of gold and silver, so that they may know which m

Lat. In the civll law. Less; ' less than. The word had also, In some connections, the sense of "not at all." For example, a debt remaining wholly unpaid was described as "minus sol

In measures of time or circumference, a minute is the sixtieth part of an hour or degree. In practice. A memorandum of what takes place in court, made by authority of the court. Mo

A book kept by the clerk or prothonotary of a court for entering memoranda of its proceedings.

In Scotch practice. A pleading put into writing before the lord ordinary, as the ground of his judgment. Bell. In business law. Memoranda or notes of a transaction or proceeding. T

Small tithes, such as usually belong to a vicar, as of wool, lambs, pigs, butter, cheese, herbs, seeds, eggs, honey, wax, etc. — Personal tithes are tithes paid of such profits as

Lat. In the civll law. A lessening; diminution or reduction. Dig. 4, 5, 1.

The Mirror of Justice or of the Justices, commonly spoken of as the "Mirror," is an ancient treatise on the laws of England, written during the reign of Edward II., and attributed

An inseparable particle used in composition, to mark an ill sense or depravation of the meaning; as "inlscomputation" or "rnisaccompting," i. c„ false reckoning. Several of the wor

In old English law. The mise or issue in a writ of right Spelman. In old records. A compact or agreement; a form of compromise. Cowell.

A mischance or accident; a casualty caused by the act of one person and inflicting injury upon another. Homicide "by misadventure" is where a man, doing a lawful act, without any i

To cite falsely as a proof or argument.

Improper, lllegal, wrongful or corrupt use or application of funds, property, etc. Jewett v. U. S., 100 Fed. 840, 41 C. C. A. 88; U. S. v. Youtsey (C. C.) 91 Fed. 867; U. S. v. Tai

This is not a technical term of law, but it ls sometimes applied to the misdemeanor which ls committed by a banker, factor, agent, trustee, etc, who fraudulently deals with money,

Ill conduct; improper or unlawful behavior. Verdicts are sometimes set aside on the ground of misbehavior of jurors. Smith v. Cutler, 10 Wend. (N. Y.) 590, 25 Am. Dec. 580; Turnbul

In medical jurisprudence. The expulsion of the ,ovum or embyro from the uterus within the first six weeks after conception. Between that time, and before the expiration of the sixt

Mixture of races; marriage between persons of different races; as betwcen a white person and a negro.

An erroneous charge; a charge, given by a court to a jury, which involves errors for which the judgment may be reversed.

In legislative parlance, the word is often used to signify the evil or danger which a statute is intended to cure or avoid. In the phrase "malicious mischief," (which see,) it impo

Ignorant; uninformed. The word is obsolete.

Any unlawful conduct on the part of a person concerned in the administration of justice which is prejudicial to the rights of parties or to the right determination of the cause; as

In practice. An improper continuance; want of proper form in a continuance; the same with "discontinuance." Cowell.

In old English law. An apostate; an unbeliever; one who totally renounced Christianity. 4 Bl. Comm. 44.

A false or erroneous date affixed to a paper or document.

The delivery of property by a carrier or warehouseman to a person not authorized by the owner or person to whom the carrier or warehouseman is bound by his contract to deliver it.

A person gullty of a misdemeanor; one sentenced to punishment upon conviction of a misdemeanor. See First-Class Misdemeanant.

In criminal law. A general name for criminal offenses of every sort, punishable by indictment or special proceedings, which do not in law amount to the grade of felony. A misdemean

An error or falsity in the description of the subject-matter of a contract which deceives one of the parties to his injury or is misleading in a material or substantial point.

In practice. An error made by a judge in instructing the jury upon the trial of a cause.

The issue in a writ of right When the tenant in a writ of right pleads that his title is better than the demandant's, he is said to join the mt'se on the mere right. Also expenses;

Money paid by way of contract or composition to purchase any liberty, etc. Blount. inisera est servitus, uhi jus est vagum aut incertum. It is a wretched state of slavery which sub

Lat. In the civll law. The name of an involuntary deposit, made under pressing necessity; as, for instance, shipwreck, fire or other inevitable calamity. Poth. Proc. Civlle, pt. 5,

The name and first word of one of the penitential psalms, being that which was commonly used to be given by the ordinary to such condemned malefactors as were allowed the benefit o

Lat. Mercy; a flne or amerciament; an arbitrary or discretionary amercement —Misericordia communis. In old English law. A fine set on a whole county or hundred.

In old English law. A fine set on a whole county or hundred.

A misdeed or trespass. The doing what a party ought to do improperly. 1 Tidd, Pr. 4. The improper performance of some act which a man may lawfully do. 3 Steph. Comm. 460. And sce B

An adverse event, calamity or evil fortune, arising by accident, (or without the will or concurrence of him who suffers from it,) and not to be foreseen or guarded against by care

See Joinder.

In Saxon and old English law. An unjust or irregular summoning to court; to speak unsteadily in court; to vary in one's pica. Cowell; Blount; Spelman.

To deposit in a place not afterwards recollected; to lose anything by forgetfulness of the place where it was laid. Shehane v. Sinte, 13 Tex. App. 535.

Delusive; calculated to lead astray or to lead into error. Instructions which are of such a nature as to be misunderstood by the Jury or to give them a wrong impression, are said t

Mistake in name; the giving an incorrect name to a person in a pleading, deed or other instrument.

Pleading incorrectly or omitting anything in pleading which ls essential to the support or defense of an action, ls so called; as in the case of a plaintiff not merely stating his

In criminal law. A term used to signify every considerable misdemeanor which has not a certain name given to it by law. 3 Inst. 36. But more particularly and properly the term deno

See Misprision.

See Misprision.

Reading a deed or other instrument to an llliterate or blind man (who is a party to it) in a false or deceitful manner, so that he conceives a wrong idea of ita tenor or contents.

The erroneous or incorrect recital of a matter of fact, either in an. agreement, deed or pleading.

An intentional false statement respecting a matter of fact, made by one of the parties to a contract, which ls material to the contract and Influential in producing it. Wise v. Ful

Lat The mass.

The mass-book.

In Roman law. Gifts or liberalities, which the prætors and consnis were in the habit of throwing among the pcople. Inst. 2, 1, 45.

In maritime law. A vessel is so called when, computed from her known day of sailing, the time that has elapsed exceeds the average duration of similar voyages at the same season of

Lat. In the civil law. A sending or putting. Missio in bona, a putting the creditor in possession of the debtor's property. Mackeld. Rom. Law, § 521. Missio judicum in consilium, a

In Scotch law. Writings passed betwcen parties as evidence of a transaction. Bell.

A priest in orders. Blount.

In old records. A messenger.

Some unintentional act, omission or error arising from ignorance, surprise, imposition or misplaced confidence. Code Ga. § 3117; 1 Story, Eq. Jur. § 110. That result of ignorance o

A trade or calling. Cowell.